Generating Models by the Expansion Method: Applications to Geographical Research*

Abstract

Analytical research in the social sciences and elsewhere calls for construct- ing models, and then testing and modifying them through a recursive open- ended process. While a great deal of attention has been placed on ways and means for the quantitative testing of models, the segments of the research process that are concerned with generating and modifying them has by and large been left unexplored. Certainly, there is a great deal of merit in the widely held belief that the selection of the right variables and their combina- tion into suitable models is ultimately due to a creative flair that cannot be decomposed into modules and routinized. Nevertheless it might prove use- ful to identify recurring procedures for generating, modifying and mending models that have been or could have been applied in unrelated contexts and that can be decomposed into a sequence of clearly identifiable steps. There can be no guarantee that useful models will ever be arrived at through the application of such procedures. On the other hand they might provide useful guidelines and frames of reference, and perhaps could stimulate a greater awareness of “how” creative research is carried out.